Minister says pupils should be kept in at lunchtime

Troublemaking and truancy could be cut if schools stopped children "roaming the streets" during lunchbreak, schools standards minister David Miliband said today.

His call was backed by leaders of the Secondary Heads Association, who said headteachers often had to spend much of their afternoon dealing with "incidents" that occurred at lunchbreak.

SHA president Anne Welsh said it would also be "very helpful" if McDonald's was forbidden from opening restaurants near schools, as that would help to cut down litter problems associated with breaktime meals, as well as improving pupils' diets.

Mr Miliband told SHA's annual conference in Harrogate that he was impressed by the policy adopted by Linda Austin, head of Swanlea School in Bethnal Green, east London.

She had brought an "end to the tipping out onto the streets at lunchtime" in favour of "pupils in school, all day, no exceptions, end of story".

Mr Miliband continued: "A culture of high achievement helps to reinforce good behaviour.

"But the insistence on good behaviour and good order promotes high achievement.

"Of course children need a break at lunch. And they need something healthy to eat to set them up for the afternoon - and that is something else that's worth debating.

"But they don't have to be out of school roaming the streets to do it. Many students may be able to handle the responsibility, but we know that some can't.

"They end up playing truant or get into trouble in the local community. That is why I am interested in Swanlea. Students stay on the school premises and the school provides an enriching lunchtime programme of mentoring via local business people, reading groups for support with literacy, sporting activities supervised by youth workers, as well as a wide range of language classes.

"That is the kind of elevation I support - good for pupils, good for the school, good for the reputation of education in the local community."

Mr Miliband said he understood this was a "two-way street" - pupils were likely to have more respect for themselves and their local communities if their school buildings were fit for the 21st century.

Mrs Welsh said: "If they are allowed to be out in the community at lunchtime you can spend most of the afternoon dealing with problems that have arisen as a consequence of incidents. It's just constant hassle.

"It could be small things like your students have dropped litter."

Mrs Welsh continued: "Sometimes people simply feel intimidated by a group of teenagers, simply by the fact that they are a group.

"They may not be doing anything wrong but old folks may find them particularly intimidating."

SHA general secretary John Dunford said keeping pupils in school during lunchbreaks was something he had always tried to do as a serving head.

Shopkeepers were often "ambivalent" about large groups of schoolchildren coming into their stores, he added.

While they represented a good business opportunity "they do find it difficult to manage large groups of young people in their shops all at once".